Two fifths of a Second
by VJulesv
Summary: Natsuki and Mai, of the newly minted Trias decide to visit Windbloom's most popular and exclusive club. The night happens to be the night of Shizuru's graduation ceremony. But Shizuru's always kept to her two-fifths of a second rule. Mai Otome-verse.


_**A/N**: I know, where's the Theogony update? I was going to flesh out the next chapter (it's about halfway done), and then I got distracted by the song I was playing... and so ended up writing this. Random info- I was listening to S&M (by Rihanna feat. Britney Spears) when writing this. It's not usually the type of song I listen to, really, but the beat of the song is really something._

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><p><strong>Two-fifths of a Second (TFAS)<strong>

She heard the music pound, even through the doors of the exclusive club. Let in without the need to queue, Natsuki followed her fellow Garderobe friends through the heavy, black doors of the place. Bright, colour-changing lights from above flashed in beat to the music playing, illuminating the dancers in the seductive darkness of the place. The reverberations through the dance floor gave the whole place a lively feel as they stepped into it. Natsuki raised her eyebrows- she never thought Mai would want to come to a nightclub. But, as usual, the top Coral- no, Pearl, who was also secretly the princess of Zipang, always managed to surprise her.

-II-

That's right. They were Pearls now that their onee-samas had graduated. The graduation ceremony- the long-awaited awarding of their Meister gems… all of that was done just earlier this morning. Shizuru-onee-sama was done with her Garderobe education. The crimson-eyed beauty had the audacity to wink at Natsuki even as her Meister Gem was affixed to her ear. Natsuki tried her best not to gape as she felt her cheeks warming up instantly.

She heard some of her fellow Otomes squeal in delight at Shizuru's flirtatious smile directed towards her. They thought it was so… so _lovely_, the _romance _they shared. The graceful Shizuru-onee-sama and the dashing Natsuki-san. The love story of how the fierce Northern princess was tamed by the impossibly charming Shizuru Viola. _Cat-tails._ _Bish-bosh. Shizuru and I certainly do not have any romance brewing in our secret garden._ She was previously appalled with how Shizuru's teasing made it seem like they were _together that way_, but as the months passed such things stopped fazing her.

Natsuki thought they would get a chance to have dinner together after the ceremony, but alas. Shizuru was pulled aside by the other Columns, to go over Garderobe's plans for their newest Column, so Natsuki left the Ceremonial Hall with Mai. Shizuru gave a long, almost-yearning glance before Natsuki hurriedly turned around and left.

_What was with Shizuru lately?_ The older girl had been acting a little strange, her emotions slipping out, at various times and places. Natsuki didn't understand.

She recalled their time two nights ago. They were just sitting side by side on Shizuru's bed, watching a short clip on Shizuru's electronic screen. It was secretly tweaked to receive broadcasts from a TV station. The Garderobe-issued screen was supposed to be for academic purposes only.

Anyway, the movie was ending and Shizuru was looking down at her hands, a wistful expression on her beautiful face. She was looking like that a lot lately, especially when it was just the two of them together. Natsuki knew Shizuru hated to appear anything but charming and smiling while in public. But lately her expressions tended to slip. So after keeping silent for a grand total of five days, Natsuki caved.

"Shizuru-onee-sama, is everything all right?" A soft, questioning whisper- she did not want to interrupt whatever Shizuru was thinking about in the quiet moment.

Shizuru looked at her face, studying it with that strange intensity… before smiling gently and denying. "Ara… everything's fine, Natsuki. I was just thinking that I'll miss this place, Natsuki."

"Graduation blues, then?"

"Yes."

"Nothing else? Your family, they're all right? Or is Haruka-san troubling you?"

"… my family is fine, Natsuki. My parents are delighted to hear I'm to be a Column, as you know. Shizuru Viola- the newest and youngest Column in all history certainly adds prestige to our family name and our land. And Haruka-san has been spending her time with Yukino-san."

"So you're missing her presence, is that it?"

Shizuru looked slightly put out, the beginnings of a frown forming, before she gathered herself again. Her crimson eyes twinkled and she grinned. "I suppose I do. But there's someone I know I'll definitely miss when I graduate, Natsuki. And as a Column, I'll probably never see her as often… and she might forget me."

"Oh?" Natsuki raised her brows. _I didn't know Shizuru had a special someone._ An uneasy feeling wormed itself into Natsuki's heart. Who was this person? Why hadn't Natsuki met her? Was Natsuki not important enough for Shizuru to introduce them to each other? Ah, how insulting. She _knew_ she was important to Shizuru. Perhaps they'd been too busy. Oh well.

Shizuru looked at her _heya-gakkari, _who was evidently processing her tease. Natsuki always tended to over-think. The Pearl otome went in for the kill. "I'll miss my Natsuki the most, of course. Natsuki better not forget me, because I'll be heartbroken."

Natsuki features smoothened out. "Shizuru-onee-sama! Ah, you're teasing me again, you horrendous tease." Natsuki crossed her arms and pouted. Yet she felt the unease in her heart fade away. Shizuru was just teasing, then. Her slightly taller senior teasingly kissed Natsuki's cheek. Natsuki did not catch the slightly darkened eyes of Shizuru as the older girl pulled back.

"Now, is that a way to speak to your onee-sama?" Teased Shizuru.

And that was the end to the matter. They continued in the lighter vein, leaning back onto the wall and snuggling into the covers. This was the last time they could just sit together, under the covers on Shizuru's bed watching shows illegally streamed on Shizuru's electronic screen. Natsuki was going to enjoy what time they had left.

Their time after that was woefully short, since Shizuru was busy with whatever graduation stuff she had to do, and Natsuki was preparing for the graduation _butou_ as well. It was a largely ceremonial fight, where the graduating Trias would battle the next Trias. Largely _ceremonial, _because the Pearls always beat the Corals within a few minutes. They did have an extra-gruelling final year of lessons and experience.

Take the top three Pearls against the top three Corals, and you would pretty much get the same result.

Except this year was different. The No. 3 Coral was quickly defeated by Haruka-onee-sama within the first 30 seconds, but Natsuki and Mai held on, surviving the first wave of attacks by the graduating Trias. Gripping her white rod confidently, Natsuki shared a knowing smirk with Mai before they unleashed a combo-attack they had spent days practicing before this _butou_.

Two weeks ago Natsuki stood by the door to the room she and Mai shared, announcing, "No way I'm going to get thrashed just because everyone expects the Pearls to smash us little midgets to smithereens, Mai. We're practicing and coming up with a strategy." Mai groaned, just a little, before acquiescing. Well, Mai hated losing too.

So at the _butou_ itself they fought brilliantly against the Pearls, who were certainly not expecting the Corals to put up such a fight. The two Corals dispatched the No. 3 Pearl in their counterattack to the first wave. Now they stood on the tall pillars, breathing a little heavily.

Haruka and Shizuru looked a little warier now. Who knew their _heya-gakkari_'s had practiced? Who _practiced _ after exams were over?

Well, the two Corals still lost, but not before putting up a jolly good fight. The fight had lasted beyond the expected time of ten minutes, dragging on to an hour. Natsuki and Mai had taken out Haruka, but because they had to focus all their attention in taking out Haruka, they left a gaping hole in their defense. Haruka went down, as planned, but the two Corals were taken out by Shizuru within a second of Haruka going down.

So Shizuru won. That meant the graduating Trias won. Balance was restored and the universe did not crack. The graduating Pearls let out a sigh of relief, cheering Shizuru on. Oh the shame, if Shizuru had not taken out those two Corals!

As they stood up from the rubble, Natsuki smiled gingerly at Shizuru. The older Garderobe student hugged her _heya-gakkari _tightly. "You made me proud, Natsuki." Somewhere around them Haruka was grudgingly telling Mai that she'd learnt a lot in the past year.

Cheers resounded around them. Shizuru held Natsuki's hand as they left the battle arena, and the Shizu-Natsu Unofficial Fanclub were starry-eyed and fanning themselves in glee. They promptly squealed in unison as Shizuru looked up and blew a kiss at them. And squealed even louder as Shizuru leaned into Natsuki and kissed her on the cheek. Natsuki merely grunted, and pulled Shizuru forcefully along as she marched quickly out of the arena. _Really. Always catering to those damn fans. _But she was used to it, and well, whatever made amused Shizuru was fine- as long as the older girl did not embarrass her too much. Shizuru hadn't crossed their personal boundaries- meaning, she didn't sneak any unwanted gropes after the drama-filled incident at the start of the school year.

Natsuki could see how Shizuru tried so hard to make sure she didn't make her uncomfortable. The crimson-eyed Pearl always tested the waters slowly, gauging for Natsuki's reaction at every step. But once she had her confirmation that Natsuki was okay with whatever it was, Shizuru was in her element. Hence, a kiss on the cheek in public was done with a twinkle and the carefree grin Shizuru was famous for.

Little did their schoolmates know that Shizuru had spent weeks just testing the waters for that action.

Little did they know Shizuru's heart always beat a little faster whenever she kissed Natsuki's cheek, her hands getting a little clammy, always.

Little did Natsuki know Shizuru was always nervous, always careful to only kiss Natsuki's cheek, for two-fifths of a second, no more, no less. Shizuru was careful to lean in _only this much_, breathe in _only this much_ and always remembered to smile teasingly after.

Shizuru didn't know what she would do if Natsuki really knew how she felt.

When Haruka found out and bugged her about it, she laughed it off, and told this _thing _she had would pass, _so please, shut up already_ (worded in more polite terms). Privately, Shizuru feared that she would never stop loving Natsuki so desperately. If Natsuki knew, would she put her walls back up? The very same personal walls Shizuru had spent so long breaking down? She would rather have Natsuki as a friend, if nothing else. _Some solace, indeed. _Two-fifths of a second, and no more.

-III-

Other than that shared glance with Shizuru after the graduation ceremony, Natsuki had not heard from Shizuru since. She had dinner with Mai instead, in their rooms as they went over the graduation battle. When Mai suggested they go to the popular club in Windbloom, she'd not given it a second thought and agreed. Mai called along the No. 3 Coral, Maya- they weren't very close to her, but close enough. The vivacious girl was sufficiently recovered from the _butou _to agree wholeheartedly that dancing and drinking the night away was an excellent idea.

So there they were- the new set of Trias, dancing wildly to the loud and hypnotic beat of the music. The other dancers recognised them almost instantly- for they were pretty well-known due to the public's fascination with Otomes. Natsuki also had a sneaking suspicion that the _annoying_ _fangirls_ of the newly minted Trias were dancing around them too, or watching from the sides. She recognised a few faces- some of them were fellow schoolmates.

Mai leaned in, mouth to Natsuki's ear. "Stop glaring, Natsuki. You know there's going to be more fangirls next year when the new students enter Garderobe. Get used to it! We're stuck with it, like it or not." Natsuki narrowed her eyes at Mai. "Let's go get some drinks then. I'm buying." The three of them left the dancefloor, and returned shortly later, now with alcohol flowing through their system.

The three of them danced in their little circle, facing each other- laughing from the sheer exhilaration of it. The end of a gruelling school year, and the next school year was already beginning after the weekend. No rest of the young Otomes in training. No rest if you wanted to be the best. The journey to being a Meister Otome was a marathon in a pressure cooker. Perseverance was key. Quite a few broke, cracked… or simply lost-the-plot sometime during training. To carry the hopes of one's nation on your shoulders was a heavy weight to bear.

But for one night- tonight, Natsuki and her friends, the brightest of Garderobe would try to leave that mantle back in their Garderobe rooms and simply dance the night away in Windbloom.

Their lithe bodies- hands on shoulders, hips, waists, breathes mingling together in the highly charged atmosphere of Windbloom's most exclusive club. Life was good.

The alcohol was now taking its effect. _Are the nanomachines in my blood having a party too? _Natsuki felt herself smiling goofily, and she tried to frown to cover it up. But her lips were refusing to obey.

"Hnnh." Natsuki gave in. Her fangirls, always too afraid to get too near her because of her icy-cold glares started dancing closer. When she finally gave in and started smiling as she danced, her emerald green eyes flashing in the dazzling lights, they felt their hearts give a little jump and twirl. _Closer_, _closer! _Their minds screamed. In front of them- so very close was Natsuki Kruger, No. 2 Coral- now the No. 2 Pearl Otome.

Natsuki closed her eyes, losing herself in the moment. _Breathe._ The smell of various perfumes assaulted her senses. She felt familiar hands placing themselves on her swaying hips, thumbs caressing her body gently even as they danced in almost frenzy-inducing atmosphere.

The arousal and sexual undercurrents swirling around the dancers- their little group of Trias and the fangirls around them was madness. Natsuki opened her eyes, expecting to see Mai dancing with her, but she gasped when she realised that it wasn't Mai. Mai was dancing with some other Coral, her orange-red hair easy to spot. In front of her... was… Natsuki's eyes widened.

"Shizuru! Wha-what?" Natsuki exclaimed loudly, but the music of the club drowned her voice out. She continued dancing, deftly executing her dance steps to the music, even as Shizuru continued to dance _with_ her. Shizuru's slender fingers seemed to sear with heat as they held on to her hips. They'd never danced _this _close before. Dance classes in Garderobe were _formal _dances.

But Shizuru heard her question, anyway. Or read her lips really well. The older Otome continued her extremely _distracting _body movements as she answered Natsuki, although her hands were always kept on Natsuki's moving hips, not straying anywhere else. "Well, I wanted to see my Natsuki after that long and dull Column meeting, but she wasn't around. Thankfully, I heard her fangirls scream her name- following them, I ended up here. Did you know, your fangirls have a pretty scary tracking system? I'm jealous."

"… excuse me, _your _fangirls seemed to have followed you here as well." Natsuki huffed and wrapped her hands around Shizuru's waist, dragging her closer. Lost in the exhilaration, her senses overwhelmed her as she breathed Shizuru's familiar lilac scent and felt the heat from Shizuru's body. Shizuru wasn't helping much with _control_. When Natsuki pulled her closer, the newest Meister Otome reacted by moving her hands up Natsuki's body sensually, finally settling them on her shoulders.

_Pound. Thrum. Throb. Throb. Pound. _In the sea of writhing of bodies, they heard slightly muted screams of delight as other Corals and Pearls danced around them. Not _with_ them, no. The pair's limbs and movements carried an undertone of fierce possessiveness that no one dared to interrupt. _Pound. Thrum. Throb. Throb. Pound. _Shizuru and Natsuki danced together in a mad frenzy, breaths mingling, eyes on each other as they moved to the beat. The electric, dangerous feel of a volatile mix of lust and longing coursed through their veins. It was a wild feeling, softened only by the tenderness in their eyes as they gazed on each other.

Then almost too soon, the song was ending, the beats slowing down, signally the start of a new, slower set of songs. Dancers were moving off the dance floor for drinks and some rest. Dropping one hand, Shizuru leaned in, kissing Natsuki on her cheek, for two-fifths of a second, and then pulling back, like always.

Natsuki felt the heat from Shizuru's palm through her dress material, and felt the slight trembling of Shizuru's fingers against her abdomen. For the first time, she noticed the emotions that Shizuru's eyes failed to hide. This time, Natsuki leaned forward again. Her hand reached up, pulling Shizuru's face back close to her. Closing her eyes, Natsuki kissed Shizuru fully on her enticing, cherry-red lips.

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><p><em>Author's Note:<em>

_Leave a review, if you like! It's really written for the fun of it! This seems like a good place to end a one-shot. I might continue this if I still like the idea after finishing off my other fic(s). But I tend to get distracted, so._


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